September 12, 2010

  • He Screws Up Once Again!


    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    We all know how the Beast *knows it all*, right?  Well, he screwed up again because, even though he KNOWS when he skips a step while doing something, nine times out of ten, it's a disaster.  He went to the gun range to adjust one of his rifles for 100 yards and that went just fine.  His smaller rifle needed to be adjusted again because he had changed the sights on it from plastic to metal.  The plastic sights *move* when the gun barrel heats up.

    His normal routine...and the correct one for a black powder rifle.....is to fire a special charge to foul the barrel just a smidgen before you do an actual round.  You are also supposed to swab the barrel so that any excess oils or powder are removed.  Well, he skipped BOTH of those steps and, lo-and-behold, it wouldn't fire.  So, there he was with a gun that had a full charge of gunpowder and a bullet that wouldn't fire even after two or three tries.  It meant taking the barrel off to get both the bullet and the gunpowder out of the barrel. 

    When the Beast told me about it, I told him that he had to take it out on the deck because I could hose off blood and guts from the deck but not from inside the house.  He and I both laughed about it but he knew I was thinking about how easily he could screw things up because he gets impatient.  So, he got a bright idea and, after removing the barrel, he put it in a pail of water to soak into the black powder.  It made it a lot easier later when he cleaned out the barrel (he has a special tool for that).  Sure enough, he had sprayed too much oil down the barrel and it had soaked into the gun powder.  You would think it might make it more flammable but that's not really the case.  The oil makes the burn temperature much higher than a percussion cap provides.  But, all is fine once again and he will have to go to the range once more to start his adjustments.  Oh well.  At least I didn't have to worry about blood and guts. 

    The Beast is now taking Baron for a run twice a day since we got the new scooter.  He's fascinated with the difference between the old one and this one.  Baron comes home now with his tongue hanging out because it's much faster than the old one.  He throws himself down on the floor with his tongue hanging out of his mouth and he pants heavily for about five minutes.  This is after coming in and heading directly to the water bowl and lapping it dry.  After he finished panting, he will then go to the other water bowl and drink even more water.

    I know this won't last but I'm glad for Baron's sake that he's getting the exercise.  He loves it and will sometimes beg in his own way for the Beast to take him around the circle again.  It's really funny.

    Chewlee was here today bright and early and we were very busy.  Besides going outside for a couple times today (until one venture when she wanted to go back in because it was *too hot* outside).  We watched Sponge Bob, Scooby Doo and the Penguins of Madagascar all day long.  When I asked her if she wanted to watch a movie, she told me *not today*.    She kept me kind of busy and we both ended falling asleep on the floor while watching TV.  The Princess snuck in after work and retrieved Chewlee without waking me up.  I woke up about 15 minutes later and knew just what happened.  The Beast laughed when I got up because he knew I was surprised.  I was THAT tired out.  It's amazing how much energy a 3-year old has and I don't. 

    Love you all.  Have a wonderful Sunday.  We got some rain today but it didn't last long.  It was enough to cool things down quite a bit so that was nice.  Hope you have nice weather to do whatever it is you plan on today.  Smile a lot.  It uses less muscles than a frown and doesn't wrinkle your face as much.